


The Way You Look Tonight

by tazia101



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, Gender non-conformity, M/M, Multi, Roman is extra, they're all in love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-31
Updated: 2019-12-31
Packaged: 2021-02-27 13:07:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,489
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22057495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tazia101/pseuds/tazia101
Summary: Sometimes, Roman convinces the other Sides to dress up and come on an adventure: in this case, a trip to a 1940s dance hall for a night out designed just for the four of them. They're all saps.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil/Creativity | Roman/Logic | Logan/Morality | Patton
Comments: 3
Kudos: 49





	The Way You Look Tonight

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted on @knight-in-the-stars, my inactive tumblr blog, in 2018
> 
> There is a playlist for this fic that can be found [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVk-bacM75Y&list=PLPK2hKZkB2CKnal6MTCX_01Lv84IYhMIs&index=1)

Roman paced around his room, checking the details of the set.

The floor was shiny and new, waxed and ready for its first dance. The balcony above the dance floor was empty, but period-accurate, with pillars rising up to the high-arced ceiling. Red and gold details spiralled between the bare wooden arches, matching the trim around the pillars.

The left wall, all windows, let the sun stream into the hall from the non-existent world outside, where a courtyard was frozen in full bloom, the sound of the fountain distantly filling the air.

_Oh_. Roman straightened up. _Of course!_

He clicked his fingers and the music started, soft and familiar and crackling through the speakers with all the tinny nostalgia he could imagine.

Roman turned his attention to his outfit, making sure everything was in place, from his carefully angled hat to his shiningly polished shoes. He adjusted his crimson bowtie, fixed the cufflinks on his striped blazer, and then put both hands in his pockets and tried to wait patiently.

While he waited, his foot started to tap to the rhythm of the music, the sound amplified in the stillness. Roman stopped, then curiously tapped the toe of his shoe to the floor, then the heel, listening to the difference in pitch.

Toe. Heel. Heel. Toe. Roman grinned at the sound, and walked to the center of the room, lifting his arms to an imagined audience.

Then he threw himself into a dance, the music changing to fit his needs, more upbeat, with so much space for him to play with his own patterns, his own rhythm. Back and forth with little lunges and grapevines and quick stomping turns, swinging a newly summoned cane across his shoulders and trying out a little comedy choreography, exaggerating near-falls and catching himself with theatrical relief, always just a little bit off balance, his feet scrambling to keep up with the rest of his body, but unerringly on time.

That got boring after a while, so Roman switched into a waltz, hands on the air’s imagined waist, feet moving in time with no one’s, enjoying the movement despite his lack of partner.

Suddenly, there was someone in front of him, slipping one arm around his neck and a hand into his own, matching his movements perfectly.

“I didn’t know you were an Astaire fan.” Patton grinned at him, dressed down compared to Roman, but still sporting a bowtie and suspenders. He looked handsome, he looked amazing, he looked delectable, and Roman loved him.

“Me? Please. How could I not be?” Roman swung Patton under his arm and then followed him, letting him take the lead.

“I like it. It suits you.”

“It suits us.” Patton laughed, and pressed his cheek against Roman’s.

“I meant your suit suits you. You dashing suitor.”

Roman took the pun with the compliment, grinning. “Thank you. And you’re looking extraordinarily dashing this evening.”

“Oh, stop it you.” Patton batted his eyelashes and effortlessly lifted Roman up into a spin, letting Roman put his hands on Patton’s shoulders to keep his balance, then setting him down and sweeping him back into the rhythm of the waltz, their bodies pivoting in unison as they followed the music. “This was a great idea,” Patton rejoined, as they spun across the room, claiming the entire space for their own. “A dance.”

“Well, of course it was!” Roman said. “Everyone loves dancing.”

“On the contrary,” said another voice from the edge of the room.

“Logan!” Patton continued to move with Roman, but he was leaning his head back to try and see the newcomer, and eventually Roman ducked away from his hands, ending the dance. Patton pouted, but leaned in to give Roman a quick kiss on the cheek before running over to Logan. “Oh, you look so sharp! Wow!”

Roman had to agree. Patton’s soft pink button-up looked perfect next to Logan’s severely tailored three-piece navy suit, his glasses dark around his eyes and his hair slicked back to emphasize the line of his jaw, the shadows of his cheekbones.

“You do indeed look… amazing,” Roman managed, and Logan nodded.

“Thank you, Roman. I find myself enjoying the change in clothing as well. On myself as well as on Patton and yourself.”

“You like my outfit!” Patton cheered, sticking his thumbs under his suspenders and rocking back on his heels. “Do you want to dance?”

“I’m not particularly fond of-“ Logan faltered, and Roman didn’t have to be able to see Patton’s face to know that he was currently employed his famous puppy-dog eyes. Logan lasted all of three seconds before crumbling. A new record. “I suppose I could make an exception.”

Roman watched them pair up, more than happy to step off the dance floor and watch his partners enjoy each others’ company in the space he had created for them.

Patton took the lead and Logan nervously followed. They moved slowly at first, Logan’s movements stiff and his eyes unfocused, obviously counting the beats in his head. But soon enough he started to trust Patton, to move with the other man’s quiet direction, and their movements became smoother.

Roman hummed along to the music, making his way to the edge of the room to lean against the wall and watch the pair dance through his room. Patton leaned in to ask a question and Logan brightened as he answered it, their bodies mirroring each other almost automatically. Roman felt his cheeks hurting with the smile he hadn’t realized had crept onto his face, and he looked down at the ground so that they wouldn’t see him staring. God, he loved them so much, it felt like a starburst of warmth in his chest, butterflies in his stomach, affection so strong that it teetered on the edge of-

“I don’t know if this was a good idea.”

Roman turned at the sound of the familiar voice, but Virgil was still hidden by the doorway, a few feet away from him in the shadows.

“We don’t have to dance if you don’t want to. We can always call this off and have another movie night.”

Roman used to be endlessly frustrated by Virgil. The other Side was constantly backing out of plans, rejecting ideas, nervous when he should be excited, turning down compliments, refusing gifts. When they first started getting closer, Roman had had no idea how to approach him.

Now, though, he understood a little better. He knew he wasn’t perfect, knew that sometimes he pushed when he needed to stand back, but they were better together, better working together and talking out when things went wrong.

“No, I want to do this. Patton and Logan look like they’re having fun.” Roman could hear the smile in Virgil’s voice, even though he still couldn’t see him.

“Well, I do need a dancing partner.” Roman pushed himself away from the wall to standing, but made no move to look around the corner. Virgil would come out when he was ready. Historically, he didn’t react well to outfit changes, so it was likely he was anxious about wearing a suit for the evening. “I bet you look fantastic,” Roman added gently.

“I…” The hesitation told Roman he had been right. “I didn’t like the suit.”

“Well, you don’t have to wear a suit! Come in your hoodie and we can dance all the same. Aesthetic whomst? I don’t know her. You’re more important than historical accuracy, and anyways, Patton’s already wearing a shade that would have certainly caused a stir in a 40s dance hall.” 

“I didn’t wear my hoodie, either.”

Now Roman was truly curious, but he still tried to reign it in, keeping his voice neutral. “I’m sure whatever you’re wearing is fine.” Virgil made a low sound of disagreement, and then stepped forwards. Roman moved away from the wall to meet him, and smiled when he saw him.

Virgil was wearing a dark purple dress, flaring out at the bottom to a 50s style, black lace peeking out from under the hem, covering the petticoat that must have been underneath. The neckline was high, and swept around into three-quarter sleeves that ended just under Virgil’s elbows. His shoes looked plain, black with buckles, but Roman could already tell that they had a bit of a heel: Virgil was taller than him, just slightly.

He had adjusted his usual eyeliner: it was as smudged as ever, but curved up into wings at the corners of his eyes. He had made no other changes, and in Roman’s opinion had seriously missed a chance to accessorize, but Roman loved it all the same.

“I knew it,” he grinned. Virgil’s jaw was tense, his gaze fixed on the floor, one hand fisted in the skirt of the dress. “You look amazing.”

“Stop it,” Virgil grumbled, but he lifted his eyes to look over Roman’s outfit. “You look good. Very good. I like the suit.”

“And I like your dress. Did you make it yourself?” Roman offered his arm as he spoke, and Virgil reluctantly relaxed his death-grip on the fabric to take Roman’s arm, letting himself be led onto the dance floor.

“Yep. I wanted to add full-length sleeves but they looked weird with the neckline.” Virgil was still refusing to meet his eyes, but Roman set them facing each other, wrapping an arm around Virgil’s waist and wiggling his right hand until Virgil interlaced their fingers, resting his other hand on Roman’s shoulder. “Then I tried puffed sleeves but they were scratchy and I couldn’t take them seriously,” Virgil continued, as Roman coaxed him into starting to sway back and forth, the awkward rhythm of an elementary-school dance. “And I finally went for these, because they were, I don’t know. I’m sorry. I’m rambling.”

“I like your rambling,” Roman said, and leaned forwards to knock their foreheads gently together. Virgil jerked backwards with a startled laugh, and finally met Roman’s eyes.

“Is this Panic?” he asked, and Roman was confused for several seconds before he tuned into the first bars of _Death of a Bachelor_ playing through the imagined speakers.

“It appears to be,” he said, adjusting their rhythm to match the new song. Virgil started to get more into the music, smiling and exaggerating the sway of their bodies back and forth until they were nearly over-balancing. Finally, Virgil almost slipped and Roman caught him, both of them laughing so hard they had to break apart.

“Hey! Roman!” Patton and Logan spun past, then between them, and came to a stop, their arms wrapped around each other. “Switch you partners?” Patton asked, disentangling himself.

“Absolutely.” Roman gave Virgil one last smile and then stepped forwards to collect Logan, as Patton guided Virgil’s hands back into dancing position.

“How’s your dance been so far?” he asked Logan, as they regained their rhythm.

“Good. Patton is an enthusiastic partner.”

“Mhmmm,” Roman said, and ventured to wiggle his eyebrows. Logan managed to look unimpressed for several seconds before the corner of his mouth twitched upwards. The music changed into something more upbeat, and Roman stepped further away, switching their hands to something more appropriate for swing dancing. “Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be,” Logan sighed, and Roman took over. Logan followed, somehow reading every one of Roman’s intentions, effortlessly matching his steps. Roman pushed him harder, spinning them around each other, throwing in little twists, and even lifting Logan off the ground at one point, bracing him on his hip to toss him upwards. But Logan just landed in a perfectly executed spin and then caught Roman up in the leading position, taking control of the dance.

“I thought you didn’t like dancing,” Roman said, slightly breathless.

“I may have to revise that opinion,” Logan confessed, keeping Roman at arm’s length as he threw in a series of playful kick-steps that Roman kept up with, but with effort. When they came back together, Logan was trying to look innocent, but Roman could tell he was holding back a self-satisfied smirk.

“Oh, might you?”

Roman let himself be spun back out, then wound in to press himself chest-to-chest with Logan, wrapping a teasing leg around his waist and gently tugging his lapel until Logan caught the hint and tilted him backwards into a dip, one arm supporting Roman’s weight and the other resting on the knee wrapped around his hip, his eyes affectionate.

Roman leaned up to kiss him and Logan returned them to standing without breaking away, effortlessly giving back all the ferocity Roman could muster, as competitive in this as everything else.

“Hey now! None of that on the dance floor!”

Roman obediently broke away to see Patton and Virgil on the other side of the room, doing the twist and watching them.

“Yeah!” Virgil chimed in, his skirt spinning beautifully around his knees as he came back to standing and caught Patton’s hand, turning under it and then looking back at them. “Leave room for Jesus, you two!”

“Leave room for- _Virgil_ ,” Logan said, exasperated.

“That too!” Patton said, and polkaed over to them, Virgil’s petticoat bouncing with the hops. He spun Virgil out and then let go, dashing over to slip between Roman and Logan, wrapping his arms around Roman’s waist and ducking his head under his chin. “I want Roman now, you take Virgil.”

“Yeah, take me out, I wanna die,” Virgil muttered.

“Not funny,” Logan said, and offered his arm to Virgil. “I myself am in need of a rest. Would you care to explore the patio with me?”

“Don’t wander too far,” Roman warned, as they headed towards the glass doors. “I think there’s still some of the last world out there past the garden, and you don’t want to run into any goblins.”

“Oh, I think we’ll be fine, my prince,” Virgil called backwards as Logan held the door for him, and Roman felt a blush climb up the back of his neck, warming his ears and cheeks.

“What, you had an adventure and didn’t invite me?” Patton waved away Roman’s apologetic look, smiling. “Oh, stop. I was teasing. We don’t have to be together all the time, I know that. But it is nice, sometimes.”

“Agreed.” The music had stopped, but Roman still swayed slightly as he held Patton close. “This has been lovely.”

“It has.” Patton rested his chin on Roman’s shoulder, and Roman pressed his cheek against his hair, closing his eyes and enjoying the warmth of the sunlight coming in through the windows. 

The moment stretched on, and then Roman lifted his head and Patton drew back, grinning.

“Now what say we go catch up with the other two before Logan tries to catch one of your goblins to experiment on again?”

“Ah, yes. Good point, we should get going.” Roman slipped his hand into Patton’s and they made for the doors, leaving the dance hall behind them as they walked towards a new adventure.


End file.
